Gakpo scores twice as Oranje edge Uzbekistan in final World Cup warm-up
Oranje managed to win their final friendly match before the World Cup due to a last-second penalty against Uzbekistan in the Icahn Stadium in New York on Monday. Cody Gakpo scored twice from the spot for a 2-1 win, although the biggest story could be the injury suffered by first-choice goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Ronald Koeman had to deal with a setback prior to the game when it was reported that Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber, who is the first-choice right back, will miss the World Cup through injury. Lutsharel Geertruida has been brought into the squad to replace him.
Oranje made a strong start to the game, hoping to avenge their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Algeria five days ago. Their first chance came in the ninth minute when a great pass from Frankie de Jong led to Cody Gakpo playing Crysencio Summerville in. The West Ham winger was in on goal, but his touch was heavy, leading to Uzbeki goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov tackling him.
Donyell Malen, who came under criticism for missing several chances against Algeria last week, continued his poor finishing run with another miss a minute later. Gakpo played a low, hard cross to the AS Roma forward, but his finish was all wrong, sending the ball far wide of the goal.
Oranje could have scored again a few minutes later. Gakpo created another chance with a cross to Denzel Dumfries at the back post. The right-back tried to play the ball across to Tijjani Reijnders for a tap-in, but the pass was just behind the midfielder, resulting in him heading it over.
Koeman’s side were awarded a penalty on the half-hour mark. A great through ball by Dumfries was met by Summerville, whose touch was enough for Jakhongir Urozov to slide in, putting his studs in the winger’s ankle. The penalty was far from convincing by Gakpo, but it went in under Yusupov.
Oranje went into halftime with the lead, and they almost doubled it shortly after halftime when Reijnders’ corner was almost headed in by Virgil van Dijk. The captain’s header went just wide of the goal.
Gakpo created another chance in the 62nd minute with another dangerous cross to the far post; this time it was Summerville who squandered the opportunity with a poor finish.
Koeman was dealt a second injury blow in the day when a knock from Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov resulted in Bart Verbruggen having to go off clutching his hip. Mark Flekken came on to replace him.
Despite the match being a friendly, VAR was used, and this came to the fore in the 86th minute, leading to a sending off for Guus Til. The PSV midfielder, who had come on to replace Frenkie de Jong around 20 minutes earlier, was sent off after a VAR review for a handball. This could lead to Til being suspended for a game or two at the World Cup, but the rules are unclear regarding this.
Uzbekistan equalized in the 92nd minute. Igor Sergeev poked the ball past Flekken after it had bounced right into his path due to a deflection from Summerville.
Oranje created a few chances prior to the winning penalty. First, Gakpo found Dumfries again at the far post with another great cross; his pass across the box was also adequate, but Khusanov was on hand to clear Reijnders’ effort from going in.
After this, a shot from Summerville led to a corner, and this led to the winning goal. Reijnders swung the corner in, and Khusanov was deemed to have fouled Jan-Paul van Hecke, leading to a penalty. Gakpo took the penalty and scored it, despite complaints by the Uzbek players that he had stopped in his run-up, which is against the rules.
Oranje will now travel to Kansas prior to facing Japan in their first group game on Sunday at 10 p.m.
